Hand Roll (Temaki Recipe)

Most people like playing with their food, and hand roll sushi, or temaki sushi is one of the fun and delicious ways to enjoy sushi. Temaki sushi basically means sushi which are hand-rolled, where you assemble the sushi filling of mostly fish or shellfish, and then rolled with nori (seaweed) sheets into hand roll sushi. Hand roll is great for sushi parties, as guests (especially those who are not familiar with sushi) learn about the art of sushi making.

As with any sushi, the fundamental of a great sushi starts with sushi rice. I have shared my sushi rice recipe with you in my last post. For this hand roll or temaki recipe, all you have to do is prepare the filling, get some greens or leaves (I used radish sprouts), nori sheets, and you will have a serving of hand roll. Plus, you don’t need a sushi mat so anyone can make hand rolls at home even though you don’t have a sushi making kit…

For the filling, I made some creamy spicy shrimp and scallop with masago (capelin roe), which is a great filling for hand roll, and convenient for those who can’t get sushi-grade fish where they are. The creamy seafood filling pairs well with the vinegared sushi rice and the fresh radish sprouts. For the popping sensation in the mouth, I topped some extra masago on top of the filling. This hand roll is delightful.

For the assembling of the hand roll, follow the step-by-step pictures below. Once you have mastered the skill, you can pretty much assemble the hand roll on your palm. Enjoy and do try out this hand roll recipe!

The hand roll is one of the more tricky sushi preparations I tried to perfect. It looks so deceptively simple, but it is complicated to get it just right. My favorite filling is chopped lobster, tobiko, japanese pickles, and kewpie mayo.
Roasting a bit of nori to sprinkle inside is cool too.